Star Wars: Imperial
by SeaBass15
Summary: After the Battle of Endor, an imperial admiral and his allies try to restore order in a sector of space.
1. The Admiral

**The Outer Rim**

The eminent shadow of a massive ship cast over the planet below. It hastily advanced towards the surface of a planet, as the rust colored clouds of the planet parted. Other ships made way for the all commanding Imperial Star Destroyer, the gray drab of the destroyer and its armament of turbolasers made all other ships pale in comparison. A tall command tower protruded from the destroyer's dorsal superstructure, this tower was larger than most civilian ships, it showcased the power of the Empire to all those that opposed it.

On this command bridge, dozens of naval officers operate and control the star destroyer. The gray clad officers went about their daily tasks, while several stormtroopers guarded the blast doors that led to the rest of the bridge. Suddenly, the doors opened, the stormtroopers did an about-face as a figure in a gray uniform emerged. His rank plaques identified him as an Admiral of the Imperial Navy. The doors behind him closed and the stormtroopers returned to their previous stance. He observed the command bridge, officers were about, doing their work. As he walked towards the front of the bridge, some of the officers in the pits looked up at him for a moment before returning to their duties.

Upon reaching his destination, he was greeted by Captain Orik, a pale man in his late forties, he was a veteran of the Imperial Navy.

"Sir, we have entered Merrin's atmosphere, I have ordered that your shuttle be prepared for departure," Orkin said dryly.

"Thank you, Captain. Have you contacted Governor Lorak? I do hope he is prepared for my arrival."

"Yes, he has prepared his mansion for your arrival. A four-course meal is being prepared by his cooks as we speak. But, more importantly, he wanted to know of your reason for visiting Merrin on such short notice. He seemed concerned."

"I see, well, his concerns will be addressed. I do not care for his obsequious behavior. The Governor needs to be… ahem… addressed on his failures, especially with the whole debacle on Tarsus."

"Governor Lorak has grown quite lazy with the comfortable life he has been given, but… um," The captain leaned in towards his ears. "Ever since Endor, order in the Imperial hierarchy has broken down, warlords have emerged, staking claims on the throne. We should be cautious with him, we don't know where his loyalties are anymore," The captain said.

The Admiral thought for a moment, "Not to worry Captain, he is an incompetent fool, any insurrection he tries will ultimately fail, he may be a greedy wamp rat, but he is neither bold or intelligent enough to stage a mutinous action."

Orik nodded in agreement, it was true, Lorak was well known for his incompetence. It is a miracle he has not been demoted yet. If the enforcer of the Empire were still alive, the Governor would tremble in fear as he was about to be executed by the lightsaber wielding force user, Lord Vader. But that was not to be anymore.

"Well Captain, I have a shuttle to catch. Make sure the destroyer stays in an offensive stance, we never know when these New Republic scum will appear." He turned and headed for the blast doors.

"Of course, Admiral Dax, oh, and do you need a Tie Fighter escort, Admiral?"

Admiral Dax hollered back, "I should be fine, Captain. This world is loyal to the Empire, afterall."

**The Main Hangar **

The hanger was unusually empty, a few tie pilots were wandering about and a few engineers were fixing some Tie Fighters that had been damaged in battle. Directly in front of the Admiral, was his Lambda class shuttle, although this was the only one that was not heavily damaged. A large portion his Star Destroyer's ties and shuttles had been damaged above Agamar. He won the battle, but it was a pyrrhic victory, only one Mon Calamari ship was destroyed, while the rest escaped. He was left with a heavily depleted squadron of Star Destroyers. The Empire was losing its advantage over the so called 'New Republic.' This new regime was nothing but a joke. Wherever there was Imperial order, they disrupted it, causing chaos and in this vacuum of power, other organizations were staking their claims. Order in the galaxy was being lost, the galaxy is nothing without the Empire.

As he walked up to the ramp of the shuttle, he could sense the approach of another person behind him, as their loud footsteps became audible. He turned to see a female in the white uniform of an ISB agent. He knew who this was.

"Admiral, sir, you called for my presence?" The agent said coolly with a blank expression.

"Agent Bastila Talon, I have a special mission for you. As you know, our fleet has just arrived in the Merrin system. I'm leaving to meet with the Governor of this sector to discuss some of his missteps regarding rebel activity on…"

"Tarsus, sir?" She responded before he could finish his sentence.

"Yes, Agent Talon, on Tarsus, are you already familiar with the situation in that system, agent?"

"I've done extensive research on the several dozen inhabited planets in this sector, according to my research, Tarsus is the most unstable of all the planets. An active insurgency by some of the locals has persisted for over a decade, but, well… considering recent events that have taken place, ahem…" The agent cleared her throat, obviously still reeling from the Empire's defeat above Endor.

"Well, my point is, their insurgency has increased tenfold, even though hologram transmissions from the Rebellion have been blocked, the Tarsus insurgents have managed to get their hands on some rebel propaganda, regarding said recent events." The agent said without stammering.

"Exactly, agent. As a result of this leak, the rebels on this particular planet have grown audacious. Recently, an Imperial weapons factory was targeted by the rebels and they apparently had some inside help because…"

"…Because prior to the attack, the shielding of the factory was blown up, thus allowing several Y-Wings to bomb the facility. This particular facility is one of the most heavily fortified on the entire planet, many of the workers and guards there are Tarsans. The planet's autonomy needs to end after this incident, there are too many in their ranks who are sympathetic to the insurgents. I'm assuming you want me to investigate this incident, flush out the culprits, Admiral?"

Dax mouth grew wide, he was always amused by the intelligence of Agent Talon. "You are correct, agent. I'm sending you to the _Yularen_, from there, that star destroyer will take you to Tarsus, where you will conduct your investigation. Is that understood, Agent?"

"Yes, sir. I will depart for the _Yularen _immediately." The young agent saluted.

"Find out as much as you can, I want a report by the time I arrive with the rest of the squadron, you are dismissed, agent."

The agent abruptly left, heading straight for another Lambda class-shuttle. He watched her go as she entered the shuttle and disappeared. He had a lot of faith in agent talon, she had never failed him before. However, with the Empire fracturing and a new power rising, he had definite concerns. These were difficult times.

Dax boarded the shuttle, with a squad of stormtroopers following close behind.

"Alright, you may power up the engines, pilot."

"Yes sir." The engines roared to life as the shuttle ascended into the air, with its wings folding down. It zoomed out of the hangar, heading straight for the capital city below.

**The Capital City**

The shuttle sped past several skyscrapers as they made their way towards landing platform nine. Looking out the cockpit, Dax could see the streets were bustling with merchants selling exotic goods to willing buyers. Landspeeders slowly made their way through the cramped streets of the market place. People were walking their pets, he observed one citizen walking her Loth cat through the local park. Near the park, on a landing platform above, a group of civilians were using public transportation, in the form of a modified Gozanti Cruiser, probably modified for civilian transport. They flew past the Imperial government complex, where Merrin's imperial government operated from. Finally, he caught sight of landing platform nine.

This platform was situated on a residential complex, no, it was actually a mansion and down below, was the welcoming party. He could make out the tiny figures of stormtroopers, as well as several officers. At the front, he could see a figure, in a gray imperial uniform. That was Governor Lorak. As the shuttle descended onto the platform, he could now make out the face of the Governor. His imperial uniform was unkept, his beard seemed overgrown, and he had a nervous smirk on his grin.

The shuttle's door opened up and a ramp sloped down. The Governor, upon immediately seeing him, waved nervously and ambled forward. Upon closer inspection, the Governor had bits of food in his beard and stains on his uniform. His face was greasy and sweat dripped down from his forehead. This was going to be interesting, to say the least.

"Welcome, Admiral, to my residence. I was surprised you were coming when I got your hologram this morning." They shook hands, his breath stunk of Corellian Wine.

"I see you are prepared for our meeting today." Sarcasm echoing through his voice.

The Governor gestured for the admiral to walk with him. The Governor's stormtroopers parted to the side and then followed behind Dax's troopers.

"Well, you see, Admiral, your ummm… announcement was on short notice, I did not have much time to organize a proper environment for our meeting. I was caught up in some activities last night and early into the morning, if you would've announced your visit ahead of time I would have…" The Governor was abruptly cut off.

"I will not accept your excuses Governor Lorak, you said you were ready for my arrival, did you not?" Dax gave the older man a sharp look of disapproval.

"Well…" He ceased his rambling once he realized he was already deep in Bantha shit.

"That is what I thought." Dax said as the doors to the Governor's mansion opened up.

Dax stopped dead in his tracks once he entered the mansion. It was a complete mess. Twi'lek servants were rushing around, cleaning up spilt wine, food, passed out imperial officers. Pillows were scattered all over and a golden chandelier was smashed onto a table, with broken glass everywhere. An obese Loth Cat was chewing on the foot of a destroyed droid. The place stank of alcohol.

Dax turned to Lorak, his face boiling with rage. "IS THIS WHAT YOU'VE DOING THE ENTIRE TIME!?" He screamed at the governor, making the meek man shrink down, his hands shaking. Even some of the stormtroopers jolted at the sudden outburst. Lorak tried to utter words, but only incoherent ramblings came out of his mouth.

"While the Empire is at the edge of collapse, you've been having parties in your mansion, not batting an eye over the entire sector that you are supposed to be in charge of!?" He said with a calmer tone.

"Well… umhm." The governor stammered, still struggling to form a coherent sentence.

"Are you even aware of how critical the situation on Tarsus has become!? Or for that matter, the entire damn galaxy? Hundreds of worlds are leaving the Empire, joining the treasonous usurper state of the New Republic, contributing to their war effort. You are handing this entire sector to the New Republic because of your incompetence, Governor! And now, an important weapons factory has been destroyed." Dax pressed his hands onto his forehead, breathing in a deep sigh, he already had enough to worry about, but now, he had to clean up this fool's mess.

"When was the last time you sent reinforcements to Tarsus, Governor?"

"Uhmm, well, I don't know, sir…" The governor shriveled back as he anticipated the next outburst. But, another voice spoke up.

A young officer made his way through the stormtroopers, approaching Dax, "I last sent troops to Tarsus a week ago, they stationed themselves at industrial centers and in major star ports. I was about to send more troops this afternoon, after I heard about the attack on the weapons factory, sir."

Surprised at this officer's sudden interjection, he took a moment to study the young man. His rank insignias told Dax that this man was the Lieutenant Governor. He was surprised by how young he was, he had to be in his mid-twenties.

After an awkward moment of silence, Dax spoke up, "And who are you?"

Lorak opened his mouth, "This is my…"

"Silence, I have heard enough from you already." The Governor immediately shut his mouth, not wanting to anger the admiral any further.

"I'm Lieutenant Governor Avix Rowan, sir."

"Tell me, are you the one who has been giving out orders here?" The young man quickly glanced at the governor, then back at Dax.

"Yes sir, the governor has other priorities as of late, I'm sure you can tell, admiral." The young man had a small smirk on his face. As for the governor, anger swept across his face, but it was quickly replaced by dread.

"You seem to be capable, Lieutenant Governor Rowan, I commend you on keeping some sort of order while this slob of a mess has been absent in these troubling times." He said while he put his hand on the young officer's shoulder.

He turned to face the now disgraced governor. The governor had a fearful look and rightfully so.

**BDEW**

The sound of a DT-29 blaster pistol echoed throughout the room. The Governor's body slumped down and he went limp. A blaster bolt hit the back of his head, leaving a smoldering hole. He holstered his blaster. The stormtroopers and officers around him did not know how to react.

"Dispose of this." He gestured for two stormtroopers to pick up the body. The two armor clad soldiers picked up the corpse and quickly removed the body. The other officers stood in shock, maybe they did not expect a full out execution to occur. He was done with incompetent fools, from now on, those who don't pull their weight, were liabilities and those liabilities were to become disposed of. No more men like Lorak.

The only person who was not shocked by this violent outcome was Lieutenant Governor Rowan. He stood at full attention, ready to be addressed by his new boss. He suspected that the young man wanted Lorak out of the way, he could tell by the slight smile he had while he was executing the former governor. Great things awaited this ambitious officer.

"Lieutenant Governor Rowan, you are now Governor Rowan. I trust that you will administer this sector of space with competence, unlike your predecessor."

"Yes, of course, sir."

"Good, Merrin will serve as the headquarters for my operations here in this sector. Now, lets talk strategy, shall we?" The newly anointed governor nodded with an approving smile, "Yes, sir."


	2. The Weapons Factory

The white streaks of hyperspace soon disappeared and the bright aura of a planet soon appeared. Their Star Destroyer, the _Yularen_, had finally reached Tarsus after a full day in hyperspace. Up ahead, she could see entire planet. From her research, Agent Bastila Talon had learned a lot about the planet.

Tarsus varied wildly when it came to the climate. The very northern and southern continents were covered by large glaciers, it was an inhospitable environment. Giant beasts that lurked under the ice lived in these arctic conditions, preying on any unlucky souls who happened to get stranded there. If the animals did not kill you, then the sub-zero temperatures would definitely kill you. Luckily for her, those regions had no Imperial presence, so she would not be headed there.

There are also multiple archipelagos dotting the vast oceans of the planet. These islands were tropical and many rich imperials on the planet often had summer homes located here. These archipelagos provided major income for the planet, its pristine beaches attracted tourists from the core worlds, where most of the planets had been urbanized. However, the insurgency on Tarsus has proven to be troublesome for the vacation hotspot, the archipelagos are now ghost towns. An unfortunate loss.

The main continent, situated north of the planet's equator, was temperate for the most part, with forests, plains and mountains dominating the landscape. All the major cities and most of the population of the planet live here. All Imperial operations occurred here as well, including the factory that was destroyed.

Not only did she research the planet, but she also researched the planet's native species, the Tarsans. They were a race humanoid aliens who resembled another species, the Duros. In fact, the Tarsans are so similar to the Duros, that they are often confused for the latter. It has been speculated by biologists that the Tarsans are descendants of Duros colonists, which could explain the similarities, although some have also suggested that the species is just a product of convergent evolution.

Bastila Talon also knew a great deal about the political system of the planet. Although Tarsus is under imperial rule, they have a level of autonomy that is rarely delegated to other planets. The imperial governor of the sector ultimately has the final say on all issues on Tarsus, however, Governor Lorak installed a puppet government. The loathsome governor did this because the Tarsans preferred one of their own to rule, while the Empire did not usually listen to the natives on such matters, the rebellions occurring on the planet became too much to bear for the local Imperial garrison. After installing the puppet king, King Arak, the insurgency on the planet started to die down. With the Tarsans having a level of autonomy and being able to decide on their own affairs, well, for the most part, their hunger for political independence was partially satisfied.

However, that all changed when the Death Star II was destroyed by the nascent Rebel Alliance. Word of the destruction, as well as the deaths of Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader and millions of the Empire's best soldiers, spread like wildfire across the galaxy. The rebellion began broadcasting through the holonet, propagating the imperial defeat at Endor. Many imperial governors and moffs attempted to censor the reports coming in from the rebels, but it was already too late. The damage had been done. Planets that were hotspots for rebel activity, such as Tarsus, were inspired by this and began launching tremendous attacks against imperial garrisons.

This ultimately led to the attack on the imperial weapons factory on Tarsus. The emboldened Tarsan rebels somehow took down the shield that protected the factory and were able to fly several Y-Wings overhead and bomb the facility. A large number of small arms, vehicles and explosives were destroyed during the raid. This was a significant loss because every blaster, AT-AT and thermal detonator matter in this fight against the fledgling New Republic. It especially mattered at this time because the New Republic was quickly gaining the advantage.

"Agent Talon, your shuttle is ready to depart." A voice from behind notified her. A young man stood there, he was the captain of the _Yularen_, usually captains were a lot older and experienced, but the loss of imperial personnel as of late has allowed junior officers to advance up the ranks at lightning speed. The same was true for herself, her predecessor was killed onboard the Death Star II.

"Thank you, captain. Have the Imperial Lightcrusiers descend down into the atmosphere, I want them stationed right above the factory and have a squadron of Tie Fighters escort my ship. This will hopefully deter the insurgents from launching another offensive. That'll be all captain."

"Yes, ma'am." The captain replied.

By the end of the week, she was expecting that this whole investigation would come up with fruitful results.

**Tarsus, the factory**

The ramp slowly descended as light from the sun struck her face, blinding her for a second. She covered her eyes with her hands. At the end of the ramp, a Stormtrooper stood there with an E-11 blaster rifle. He had an orange pauldron on his right shoulder, which meant he was the commander. Behind him, were four white armored stormtroopers, two standing on each side of the commander. Their armor covered in grime.

"We've been expecting you, Agent." The lead stormtrooper said in a grizzled voice. He was obviously exhausted from all the chaos happening here.

"I'm here to investigate the attack that occurred here a few days ago, commander."

"Yes, let me take you to the overseer Elsin, he's the one in charge of the facilities industrial output." The commander gestured for her to go on ahead. The four stormtroopers followed behind them, while the commander walked right beside her.

"So, commander… ummm, what is your name? I prefer to be acquainted with my colleagues, just so communication is easier." He hesitated for a second, usually imperial officers and stormtroopers weren't this cordial, so it would be natural for him to be surprised.

"I'm Commander Karzon, and you are Agent Talon, if I'm correct?"

"Yes, I'm Agent Bastila Talon of the ISB. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but according to the data I gathered up, over one hundred imperials were killed in the attack and several dozen Tarsans were also killed."

"That is correct ma'am. We also have fifty injured imperials and Tarsan workers in the medical bay right now."

"I see, how extensive is the damage to the whole factory, commander?"

"Complex one, two and three were completely destroyed in the attack. Complex one produced heavy armored vehicles like the AT-AT and AT-ST, we were not able to salvage any of them. Complex two produced light vehicles like speeders and Imperial Troop Transports, a few of those were saved from utter obliteration, but the rest is gone. The last complex that was bombed by the Y-Wings was number three, that facility produced small arms and explosives. Other buildings were also damaged, but not heavily. We lost all modes of production." His voice filled with obvious frustration.

"That is most unfortunate, this will impede our progress on this planet significantly. After the attack, commander, did you lock down the facility? Make sure nobody left the area?" As she asked, she could see the tall administrative building up ahead, as they gradually made their way there.

"Yes, ma'am. We locked down the whole area. We prevented the Tarsan workers and guards from leaving, we suspected that some of them may have been…"

She abruptly cut off the commander, "responsible for the shield's destruction, prior to the attack. Yes, I suspected as such when I saw the full report."

"That is exactly right, Agent Talon. That is why I have my troops guarding the workers and guards at all times. I was waiting for your arrival so we could determine what to do with the traitors, agent."

"Very good, commander. You may not know it, but this action will undoubtedly aid my enquiry. Thank you for your discerning actions, commander." Even though he was wearing a helmet, she could tell that the commander appreciated the praise. Competent soldiers like Karzon don't get the recognition they deserve in the Empire.

As they approached the blast doors, she stopped in her tracks. With the amount damage done, another attack could easily wipe out the remainder of the factory. Additional reinforcements would be necessary, especially heavy armor, as she noticed that no AT-STs or AT-AT were present. She expected that the garrison here would be supplemented with heavy armor from the capital city already.

"Hold on, commander."

The commander and his cohorts stopped mere feet away from the now open blast doors.

"Why has the Overseer not requested additional reinforcements, commander?"

"He has, agent, at first he asked for more Tarsan guards, but I told him that Imperial Stormtroopers would be more effective against the insurgents. He relented and made contact with the garrison at the capital. Yesterday we received news that the rebels had ambushed our reinforcements who were in route to our location. The entire force was destroyed."

"I'll contact the _Yularen_, and request that AT-STs and AT-ATs be sent down here. I've already ordered Imperial Light Cruisers to patrol the skies around the facility, hopefully, that should deter further attacks from happening." She pulled out her comm link

A voice on the other end responded, "Yes, agent?"

"Captain, this place is going to need a lot more protection."

**Inside the administrative building**

After contacting the captain, her, the commander and his squad of stormtroopers ventured into the administrative building to meet the overseer of the factory. Walking through the corridors of the building, she could see that astromech droids and protocol droids were busy going about their work. Squads of stormtroopers were also marching through the corridors and imperial officers were accessing data off several datapads. A KX- Series Security Droid passed them, its white eyes staring at her for a split second, before continuing on, its clanking footsteps slowly subsiding as it slipped out of view.

The mess hall came into view. At first, it looked like a normal mess hall, but upon closer inspection, she noticed a gaping hole in the ceiling, with a pile of rubble at the bottom. Around the hole were burn marks from the explosion. Several hovering construction droids came into her line of sight, they were carrying tools and were painted the standard imperial gray. They soon began their work as several officers came over to inspect the work.

They finally reached the elevator. The six of them waited a minute for the elevator to reach their level. It beeped and its doors slid open. Two imperial officers, both wearing black, and one Tarsan worker stepped out. As the worker passed her, he scowled at her, his red piercing eyes staring at her. She was about to reprimand the worker for the rude gesture, but she did not have time for something so petty. As the elevator doors closed, the two officers and the worker disappeared.

"You alright, agent?" Commander Karzon asked, seeming concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine. The workers here seem reprehensive of us, although that's to be expected."

The commander nodded, he was about to say something, but the loud beep of the elevator sounded, they were here. The doors slid open. Immediately, she could tell that this room was an office. Red carpet made up the entire floor and several comfy looking couches were situated next to a glass table. Several plants, that she assumed were native to the planet, were in brown pots. A large desk was at the end of the office with a holo computer located in the center, as she got closer, she could see a hovering chair as well. Behind that, a long, rectangular window showcased the facility, or what was left of it.

"Welcome, Agent Talon!" She spun around to see the a Tarsan man in a red tunic, with a brown belt wrapping around his waist. He had a distinctive scar or a birthmark, on his head, in the shape of a distorted oval. His eyes were pure emerald colored, with a tint of blue. He was about the same height as the commander, maybe a little taller.

"Overseer Elsin, I presume."

"Yes, I'm the overseer of this, well… what's left of this complex. I've heard many great things about you agent, its relieving to have you here. Oh, where are my manners!?" He pushed a control on his wrist and a chair came flying out from a closet. It settled down right in front of her.

"Please, agent, have a seat. Would you like any…"

"No, no refreshments, I want to get straight to business. This is an urgent situation we are in, Overseer Elsin." The green-eyed alien seemed taken aback at first by her stern voice, but quickly readjusted his attitude.

"Of course, Agent Talon." He hastily sat down on his hovering chair.

"Now, I need a complete database on every Tarsan worker and guard you have. A database on every transmission made from this complex will also be necessary. Some of your personnel may be sympathetic to the insurgents, and if they are, it is likely that a few of them were in communication with them and conspired to blow up the shield generator just prior to the Y-Wing attack. It can't be a coincidence that these two events happened almost at the same time; it must have been planned."

Elsin was a silent for a second, "Well, maybe the insurgents snuck into the base without us noticing?"

Talon sighed, "No, that is not possible, this place is too well defended, there are hundreds of stormtroopers here and this facility is surrounded by a wall. Somebody would have noticed something or, even better, your surveillance system would have picked up something."

"You see, agent, that's the problem." He cleared his throat, "Prior to the shield generators getting blown to pieces, our surveillance system had to reboot due to a malfunction, so…"

"What the hell? So your whole system was down? What did you say? Due to a malfunction? No, no, three events happening in successive order, it can't be a coincidence, someone must've sabotaged the system!"

The Overseer shrunk back into his chair; he knew he had royally screwed up.

"Well, agent, without any digital evidence, we can't exactly prove whether it was an inside job or if the insurgents snuck in, although both are definite possibilities." The overseer said in an almost non-audible way.

She had a gut feeling that she could not trust Overseer Elsin. The rich families of Tarsus were in control of most industrial ventures and made most of their credits from the Empire. They benefitted from the Empire and were the only Tarsans considered truly loyal to the Empire. However, she could not rule out the possibility that one of the aristocrats, such as Elsin, could backstab the Empire. The laws of the galaxy have changed, the Empire was no longer on top, the aristocrats of this planet could switch to whichever side made them the most money. But, she should not jump to conclusions too quickly.

"Commander, you can confirm Overseer Elsin's account about the downed surveillance system?" She trusted her fellow imperial more than Tarsan aristocrat.

"Yes, ma'am, I was not there to see it go down, but many of the officers in charge of the system were complaining about it."

"Alright, overseer, I want you to gather up all the data I requested. My investigation begins now." She said sternly.

"Of course, I will get on that right away."

"Wait, Commander Karzon, I want you and your troopers to go with Elsin, if some of your workers are involved with the rebels, then may try to kill you. The Tarsan rebels despise the aristocratic upper class for supporting the Empire, that makes you a prime target."

Elsin stammered, "Well… ahem… that won't be necessary agent, I'm more than…"

"I don't care if you think you can protect yourself, I want you secure. That's the end of it." He gulped, obviously nervous.

"Yes, of course." He replied.

Commander Karzon and his four troopers then escorted him to the elevator. The doors slid shut and they were gone. She sat there for a few minutes, contemplating her next move. She did not trust any of the locals, not even aristocrats, who were supposedly loyal to the Empire.

She then got up and headed outside.

**The Landing Platform**

She had made her way to the landing platform. In the skies, she could see two Imperial Light Cruisers patrolling the airspace. Tie Fighters were also swooshing by, scouting for any potential enemy star fighters. Several Gozanti Class Cruisers were descending towards the base.

Each cruiser held two AT-STs and probably several squads of stormtroopers each. The first cruiser to reach the ground, disengaged its locking mechanism on both AT-STs, releasing them. Their mechanical feet touched the ground, making a metallic noise. The two began to patrol the factory's yard. The Gozanti then landed and a platform descended, releasing several squads of armor clad stormtroopers.

The other Gozanti Cruisers did the same thing, releasing the AT-STs and dropping of squads of stormtroopers.

She pulled out her hologram projector. She pressed a few buttons and a moment later, the figure of Admiral Dax was standing in front of her.

"Agent Talon, I presume you've contacted me to give me a status report?"

"Yes, admiral, I've arrived at the weapons factory on Tarsus. My investigation has just begun."

"Have you discovered anything, agent?"

"Actually, yes, just before the shield generator was destroyed, the surveillance system was apparently rebooted due to a malfunction, however, I've found this too hardly plausible. Three events occurring in successive order can't be a coincidence, someone is definitely trying to protect whoever is responsible for this. My only key suspect as of now is Overseer Elsin, but I can't rule out any other individuals just yet."

"Very good, Agent Talon. I'll be staying in the Merrin system for a week, consolidating my forces here. I've been talking to the new governor, determining our best course of action."

New governor? This surprised her. The admiral must have noticed her confusion because he responded to it.

"Governor Lorak was a liability. I've installed somebody who is much more competent and intelligent. He will be very useful, more so than Lorak."

"Very well, sir. I will contact you again once I progress further with my investigation."

Before shutting down the projector, Admiral Dax had one last thing to say, "And agent, remember, I want this case solved by the time I arrive on Tarsus. There is no room for failure in the Empire anymore, is that understood?"

She gulped, "Yes, of course, sir."

And with that, his holographic image vanished.

She was absolutely determined to figure what had happened here. She will not fail the admiral, not this time or ever.


	3. Message From the Grave

A stream of crimson liquid poured out of a bottle, filling up the glass in Dax's hand. He held his other hand up, gesturing to the Twi'lek servant that the amount of wine in his glass was satisfactory. He took a sip of the alcoholic concoction, it tasted very tannic. He set the glass down on the glass table and watched as Governor Rowan had his own fill of the Corellian Wine.

"Ah, the best wine in the galaxy, don't you agree admiral?"

"I prefer Alderaanian wine, but seeing as Alderaan no longer exists, then I would have to agree." He chuckled at that statement, it was a shame that such a beautiful planet had to be destroyed, but those who oppose the Empire will suffer dire consequences and unfortunately for the Alderaanians, they had to pay for helping the rebels.

"Now let's get straight to business, Governor." Dax said casually.

"Of course, admiral." Rowan took another sip from his glass.

"I'm low on stormtroopers and officers, I lost a lot of my men on Agamar, the New Republic fleet there was quite challenging to defeat, to say the least. With that said, I would like you to conscript the local imperial population on this planet, we can no longer rely on Coruscant to reinforce us, Mas Amedda is nothing but a figure head. Civil war has already erupted on Coruscant, he will be too busy dealing with the core worlds and their problems to help us. As for other moffs, admirals and generals, many of them are dealing with their own complications in their sectors, even Moff Gideon is struggling to keep a hold of his sector."

"I understand, admiral. I will contact the Merrin Imperial Academy. I can double the amount of stormtroopers and officers being trained there within four rotations, but I can't guarantee the quality of these… uhm… new recruits. Their training will be rushed, there is no doubt about that."

"Make it triple, Governor. This next generation of imperial soldiers will need to adapt quickly and they will learn on the job. They may start out as poor quality troopers, but I will make sure that my senior officers guide them to success." Dax took another drink of his wine, until it was empty. He signaled for a turquoise colored Twi'lek to take his glass.

"I understand. What about the administration of this sector, admiral?"

"See to it personally, Governor Rowan. Deal with the administrative affairs of the sector, I will handle the defense of this sector, including the insurgency on Tarsus. I know you already sent reinforcements there a week ago, but I've sent my own agent there to investigate the attack on the weapons factory."

"Has she made any progress?" He asked.

"I'm not sure, but I'll contact her now. In the meanwhile, you can begin your administration and you can begin converting this mess of a mansion into your residence. I will head back to the _Striker_._"_

"Farewell, Admiral Dax, I will contact you if I have any issues."

And with that, Dax left the mansion and headed back to his Lambda-Class Shuttle. His squad of stormtroopers followed him as he arrived on platform nine. He pulled out his hologram projector, hopefully Agent Talon was making some progress.

**The Lambda-Class Shuttle**

The agent's progress so far was adequate. Tarsus, although vital because of its precious metals and production of weapons, was turning out to be more trouble than what it was worth. It was a pot about to boil over.

**BEEP, BEEP, BEEP**

Someone was calling him. He opened up the projector. It was Captain Orik.

"Captain, what's the situation?"

"Sir, we've had an unexpected visitor. A shuttle came out of hyperspace. When it landed, a droid emerged, it had crimson robes, with a glass dome head, it is a very strange looking droid. When I asked what its business was, it said it had a message reserved only for you, admiral."

A droid with red robes? He hadn't been informed that a droid would be joining them, "I see, take it to the bridge. I'll be there shortly, captain." The hologram turned off. He was curious as to what this droid's message was. Did this have something to do with the late Emperor? The red robes reminded him of the Emperor's imperial guards, who adorned red robes and armor. He could tell that whatever was about to ensue was imperative.

**The **_**Striker**_**, the bridge**

An exodus of crew members left their stations at once when Dax commanded them to do so. If this message was only for him, then nobody else could be here for it. Even Captain Orik vacated his post. It took a minute for the officers to exit the bridge. Once they did, the blast doors locked. Now, it was just him and the droid.

He approached the red robed droid; it was facing the viewing port. As if sensing his presence, the droid swiftly turned to him. Protruding from the droid's forearm was a needle.

In a robotic voice it asked for his arm, "Blood testing is mandatory in order to confirm your identity." The needle was then inserted into his forearm. The crimson liquid was soon flowing up through the needle and into the droid's DNA analyzer. The thin needle retracted back into the droid, as it took a few moments to analyze Dax's DNA.

"Your identity has been confirmed."

Unexpectedly, its glass, rounded head soon lit up with a familiar face. The distinctive face of Emperor Palpatine was staring right at him. The wrinkled face of the Emperor, his piercing yellow eyes, it was all there on that glass viewscreen.

Suddenly, the raspy voice of the Emperor soon echoed throughout the bridge, "Admiral Dax, Operation: Cinder is to begin at once." Chills were immediately sent down his spine, he knew what this was all about now.

"Resistance. Rebellion. Defiance. These are concepts that cannot be allowed to persist. You are but one of many tools by which these ideas shall be burned away. Heed my messenger. He shall relay you to your target." The raspy voice of Palpatine soon ceased and his ghostly appearance soon faded.

The droid soon held out a holoprojector in the palm of his hand, "This hologram will identify your target. You are to carry it out on behalf of the Emperor." The droid's voice soon died down, although its palm was still outstretched, waiting for him to transfer the data from its holoprojector. He hastily pulled out a data transfer chip and inserted it into a slit located right under the projector. After a few seconds, it popped out. He now had his mission details on this tiny chip.

**Tarsus, The Factory**

The shield generator that once protected this base was now a pile of rubble. Bits of shrapnel from the explosion were still scattered all about. The ground was scorched black. A few burnt stormtrooper helmets lie around as well. Her first task in this enquiry was to identify what caused the generator to explode. For this, she had a specific tool.

Next to her was a briefcase that was filled with all types of gadgets. She dug around in the case, searching through her array of tools. Finally, she found it. She pulled out a thin, rectangular device. This device could identify the serial code of any product made in this factory, she had already hooked it up to the database, so, if she discovered a piece of shrapnel with a code on it, she could identify the explosive used. But first, she had to find a piece that belonged to the device that caused the shields to go down.

She held up the scanner and pressed a blue button, which activated it. A green field of light soon lit up the ground. She began sweeping the area with her scanner, going through all the debris.

"Commander Karzon, you and your troopers collect any pieces I identify." The commander nodded and several of his troopers began to fan out across the field of debris. She also lent the troopers some of her scanners, this would make the toil more tolerable with multiple people, but they had a lot of ground to cover.

Hours passed, with no luck. They were all sweating profusely, the Tarsan sun was relentless and it was only mid-day. Her muscles ached and her back was in discomfort. Some of the troopers were passing around their bottles, gulping down the refreshing water. Commander Karzon had also enlisted more men in their search for the serial code.

She felt a nudge on her left shoulder. A trooper, without his helmet, was offering her a drink. It was imperial protocol that officers and troopers were forbidden from sharing rations, but at this point, she did not care. She took the bottle out of the trooper's hand and chugged the water. The moisture relieved her throat. She handed it back to the soldier, not wanting to drink all of his water.

Just as she was about to get back to work, she heard Commander Karzon yell out, "The scanner has picked something up, get over here agent!"

She rushed over to his position and several troopers, relieved that their job might be complete, also rushed to the scene. Upon arriving, she could see his scanner highlighting a serial code number on a small piece of shrapnel.

"Collect this piece, if we scan this code, it will identify from which station this bomb was constructed at. The Tarsan workers are only allowed in their respective stations and no where else on the factory floor, so it is likely whoever works at those posts are the culprits."

The Commander seemed to agree, as he signaled for a trooper to pick up the piece.

"Trooper, take that to my makeshift office for now, put it into the evidence locker. The rest of you, keep searching. We need to make sure that no other worker stations were involved."

"Yes, ma'am." The exhausted troopers said in unison.

She headed back to her makeshift office, which was located in the administrative building, on the second floor. The blast doors to her quarters opened, revealing her compact living space for the time being. A petite bed was situated in one of the corners and adjacent to that was her desk, along with her datapad. Underneath her desk was the evidence locker. She accessed the locker by putting in her four-digit password and picked up the shard of metal.

She scanned it once more and then connected it to her datapad. Her pad showed a list of posts, and underneath those posts, the laborers who managed that area. The datapad soon eliminated each group, narrowing down the list until only one was still displayed.

"Imperial Weapons Factory One, Complex three, Imperial Bomb Assembly, Station A7." She read out loud to herself. Underneath that were all the Tarsans who operated this specific assembly line. She counted twelve. If some of these men committed this crime, then who cut the surveillance system? She suspected it might be Overseer Elsin, as workers were not permitted to enter the administrative complex, unless given permission. High ranking officials were the only ones allowed in the security room, so either an imperial officer betrayed them, which she doubted, or Overseer Elsin sabotaged the system.

She was so deep in her own contemplation, that she did not notice her hologram projector was beeping. It was from Admiral Dax, he had just contacted her a few hours ago, so she wasn't why is he was calling her again, she already gave him a status report. She opened up the hologram.

"Admiral, I was not expecting another transmission from you."

"Agent Talon, my arrival on Tarsus will be delayed by a significant time margin. I have to carry out the command of our fallen Emperor. I'm going to Eriadu with the rest of the fleet. I'm entrusting, given the extra time you have now, that your investigation will be complete when by the time I arrive. Is that understood, agent?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good." The hologram shut off and she was alone once more. She was curious as to what he meant when he said, 'I have to carry out the command of our fallen Emperor?' It was a mysterious thing to say, maybe it was a metaphor?

She didn't have time to think about this, she had to focus. Before she confronted Elsin, she needed to interrogate the workers from Station A7. She turned on her comm link.

"Commander Karzon, this is Agent Talon, I need you to bring in the twelve workers from Station A7, from the bomb assembly line."

"Copy that, agent."

These interrogations were probably going to involve torture, good thing she had prepared for this exact scenario.


	4. Battle of Eriadu

**Above Eriadu**

"Admiral, we have made contact with Moff Seljuc, he says the climate disruption arrays are almost in position." Captain Orik informed him.

"Have all our imperial personnel evacuated, as ordered, captain?"

"Yes, sir, the last transports are arriving in the main hangar as we speak."

Staring out the viewing port of the bridge, the giant mass of Eriadu was before them. This planet is staunchly loyal to the Empire, even some of the best officers in the imperial military originated from this planet. One such example was Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, a man who was a key player when it came to building the Empire. He created the Tarkin Initiative, the program that jumpstarted the creation of the Death Stars, although it was quite controversial at the time due to the fact that funds for the navy were being diverted to the two super battle stations. The Tarkin Doctrine was also one of the pillars that supported the Empire. This doctrine praised every bit of the Empire for keeping order, justice and peace. It purported that fear was the best way to govern the galaxy and that a vast military was needed to keep order. He had an immaculate reputation among imperials, even after death, he was well respected.

"It is a shame we have to lay waste to a planet that has given its full devotion and loyalty to the Empire, captain." He said solemnly. In his own mind, he believed that Eriadu should not be punished for the Empire's failure to protect its Emperor. He listened to what the hologram said, the Emperor's grand Empire was not meant to outlive him. Now, the destruction of it was to be carried out. These were the direct orders of the deceased Palpatine, but these orders felt wrong.

"It is an unfortunate, but necessary loss. Afterall, it is by command of the Emperor, we must follow through, admiral." The captain replied with a quiet voice.

"I understand, but why should we take orders from a dead man? So, he dies and then wants his glorious Empire to fall? We must continue this great institution, not tear it down. A new Emperor should be crowned so order can persist in this lawless galaxy, captain." He said exasperated.

"Sir, I understand your frustrations, but orders are orders. The Empire may collapse, but the ideology behind it will persist for generations to come. An ideology is not something you can outright destroy, just with the Rebel Alliance, no matter how many times we scuff out those scum, they keep coming back. The tables may have reversed, but our ideals will never die out and the Empire will continue to live on in some form."

Captain Orik was always somebody he could seek advice from, "Yes, I suppose, but…"

His sentence was cut off by the sound of his hologram. Once activated, a tall, thin, gray haired man in his mid-fifties appeared. He was dressed in the standard imperial uniform for Moffs.

"Admiral Dax, the climate disruption arrays are in formation and are ready to fire at a moment's notice. I have positioned my two light cruisers around the arrays for extra protection and my Gozanti crusiers are also ready just in case we come under attack."

"Good, I have my ships on alert as well." He knew full well that this sector was quickly succumbing to New Republic invasion, they had to act fast if they wanted this operation to succeed.

"And you are sure all personnel have been evacuated from the surface, admiral?" The moff asked in a concerned manner.

"Yes, and if they haven't, then they are on their own. You may fire when ready, Moff Seljuc."

The moff turned to someone offscreen and yelled, "Fire!"

All of a sudden, the half dozen climate disruption arrays that had gathered above the planet activated. Orange beams of light soon projected from the arrays, shooting down towards the planet's surface. Everyone on the bridge was staring at the immense power of the arrays, he could see the reflection of the orange rays of light in Captain Orik's eyes.

He could see whirling storms, caused by the devices. Multiple hurricanes were forming on Eriadu, he could only imagine the devastation that was happening down there. He felt a pang of guilt in his chest, knowing that loyal imperial citizens were needlessly being killed because a dead man proclaimed it to be.

"Captain, what is the population of Eriadu?" He said, with guilt in his voice.

"About 22 billion, sir. Why do you ask?"

"This isn't right captain; we are to preserve the Empire not destroy it! Order Moff Seljuc to shut down the arrays at once!"

"Sir, I doubt Moff Seljuc will listen to you, he is under strict orders to continue this operation, and if we did disengage the arrays, it would already be too late, sir." The captain said with a hint of irritation in his voice.

"I don't care, get Seljuc on the line, I want to talk to him."

"As you wish, admiral."

The captain held out the holoprojector, before Moff Seljuc appeared.

"Seljuc, I want the arrays to be disengaged at once, I will not tolerate the deaths of millions of innocent imperials."

"Admiral, these are our direct orders. Doing this can get us both demoted from our ranks, and I'm sure you'd much rather keep your title. I shall continue with the operation, admiral."

"Moff Seljuc, turn off those…"

The holoprojector abruptly shut off, the moff had hung up on him. The arrays still continued to shoot their orange rays of light down to the surface

"Blast it!" he said in frustration. This couldn't get any worse.

"Sir, sir! We have a problem!" A young voice called out from one of the pits. Dax and the captain rushed over to the ensign's station to see what the situation was. The young imperial pointed to his screen, it showed that several ships were about to exit hyperspace.

"Our sensors indicate that several ships are arriving in the Eriadu system, admiral." The young ensign said, sweating nervously.

"Are they friendlies? They could be New Republic ships."

"We're not sure yet, but no other imperial ships were scheduled to arrive today, sir."

The admiral hastily made his way back to the viewing port and before he knew it, several large ships came out of hyperspace right in front of Moff Seljuc's imperial star destroyer. First, a MC80A Star Cruiser emerged. Then, an MC75, with its iconic bridge which was attached on the underbelly of the ship, came out of hyperspace. Soon enough, three EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigates and a complement of corvettes emerged. Lastly, the notorious X-Wings of the rebellion entered the system.

"Everyone to their battle stations! Activate the turbolasers and laser cannons. Turn the shields on!" He yelled.

All the officers began a mad dash to their stations. Ensigns operating the shields, gunners operating the laser cannons and Tie pilots were going to rushing to their respective fighters.

"Captain, send out all Tie Fighter squadrons, especially Wraith Squadron. I want Lieutenant Commander Krev to lead the attack. Forget the disruption arrays, our main goal now is to destroy this rebel fleet."

"Yes, Sir!"

**The Main Hangar**

The loud blare of the star destroyers alert system penetrated every corridor of the ship. He was running, running to his Tie Defender, one of the most advanced fighters in the imperial arsenal. Dozens of Tie pilots were making their way to the hangar, where their fighters were hanging on racks. Then he spotted his friend and colleague, Lieutenant Besh, his second in command of Wraith Squadron. He was about to enter his Tie Interceptor.

"Let's kill some rebel scum, Besh, shall we?" He said with a playful attitude.

"See you on the other side, my friend." Besh said with his signature grin. They've served together for nearly five years and they'd grown to be not only confidants in each other, but brothers in arms.

With that, Krev hopped over the railing onto his Tie Defender, opening the hatch. He sat comfortably in the cockpit of his fighter, donning his black helmet, along with his life support chest piece. His Tie Defender was a top of line star fighter. Unlike the other star fighters of the Tie line, the Tie Defender was equipped with shielding, which protect it from projectiles and laser fire. Its maneuverability allowed it to outmatch most ships within the rebel alliance. It had a hyperdrive, allowing it to go over thousands of light years to distant systems. The Tie Defender also had a nasty surprise in the form of six heavy laser cannons and concussion missiles that could incinerate a ship without any effort. It was armed to the teeth. He activated all sensors and shielding, this was where the fun began. He immediately pulled the throttle forward; he felt a vibration as his Tie Defender disembarked from the rack and he was off.

As he entered the vacuum of space, he could finally see what they were up against. Past the climate disruption arrays and Moff Seljuc's imperial star destroyer he could see the New Republic fleet. Two capital ships, both of the Mon Calamari classification, several Nebulon-B frigates and half a dozen corvettes. They had already opened up a volley of laser fire and he could make out the miniature blotches that were the New Republic's X-Wings and Y-Wings. Behind him, his sensors indicated that most of his squad was out of the hangar. He could hear all the chatter in his comm channels, flight formations, calculations and banter being exchanged between the pilots of Wraith Squadron.

"Wraith Squadron, form up on me" He said into the comm link, "Make a tight formation, we're going in." The captain had informed him that the disruption arrays were to be ignored, instead, their main focus was the rebel star fighters. The plan was to use his Tie Defender to crack through their formation, causing chaos, while his subordinates picked off the rest, he was one of the finest Tie pilots in the sector, so Admiral Dax knew of his capabilities. Add the advanced technology of the defender and they had an unstoppable force.

"Copy that, Lieutenant Commander. Forming up on you." He heard Besh reply over the comm link.

"All right, we're about to hit them, get your weapons systems ready!" He yelled over the comm channel. He could hear the mass chatter of his Tie Pilots, priming their weapons systems. Up ahead, he could see a whole squadron of X-Wings approaching their coordinates. While the X-Wings were superior to the generic Tie fighter, they had the numeric advantage, plus a Tie Defender. The X-Wings extended their S-foils, they were ready to fight.

The two opposing forces collided into each other, a fray of dogfights soon erupted all around him, with several Tie Fighters immediately getting blown to bits, debris flying in all directions. He barely dodged the wing of a destroyed Tie Fighter that was sent flying by an explosion. All around him, Tie Fighters and X-Wings were engaged in combat, he swerved his Tie Defender around to join the action.

An X-Wing unexpectedly zoomed past his transparisteel viewport, quickly evading his sensors. He veered to his left to track down the enemy ship. Then, his sensors picked it up, it had just finished taking down a Tie Fighter. Blasted rebel scum would pay dearly for that.

He aimed his laser cannons, his targeting system locking onto the X-Wing and he fired. However, the X-Wing veered off, sensing his presence, his blaster bolts were off target, but one green bolt managed to hit the underside of the X-Wing's fuselage. The starfighter was trailing smoke, a small fire was lit on the underside. The X-Wing swung around a Corellian corvette, trying to shake Krev off, but he was determined to obliterate this fighter.

His targeting system was now locking onto the fighter once more, and he fired. This time, his laser bolts hit the X-Wing right on one of its S-foils and its astromech droid was also hit, the top half of its pathetic droid body was sent off into space. Now, the X-Wing was struggling to keep control, by now, the fighter would be losing full compression, shielding would begin to fail and its flight patterns would be drastically affected by the loss of one of its S-Foils.

The red and white colored X-Wing was attempting to make its way back to its squadron, to find some support. Unfortunately for the pilot, Krev had the fighter in his crosshairs again. He was aiming for the ship's main drives; hoping to deliver a fatal blow. He pressed the trigger, and half a dozen green bolts discharged from his ship. The New Republic ship was hit straight on and it soon spiraled out of control, until the starfighter burst into a blaze of glory, with the pilot suffering a terrible fate. An orange explosion shot pieces of the ship in all directions.

Suddenly, his transponder was brought to life with the chatter of his squad mates, "I've got one on my tail, I can't shake him off!"

He readjusted his fighter, the coordinates of the fighter in distress showed up on his tracking screen. Now, he saw it. In front of him, he could see a X-Wing trailing a battered Tie Fighter. He wasn't about let this rebel heathen kill another one of his brethren.

This time, he fired his concussion missiles, these had enough power that even a starfighter with top grade deflector shields would be no match. The two missiles struck the X-Wing and it immediately blasted into a ball of fire, "Thanks, Lieutenant Commander, I thought I was a goner for sure."

"Head back to the _Striker_, LP-798, one more shot to your Tie and you'll be dead." Tie Fighters lacked proper deflector shielding, the Empire preferred cheaply mass-produced fighters over the more expensive alternatives, although Krev's Tie Defender was one exception.

"Krev, those three corvettes are taking out our fighters, we're losing a lot of pilots!" He heard the frantic voice of Besh broadcast over his transponder.

"I'll take two fighters and take out this corvette at these coordinates, you and another squad take out the other two."

"Copy that, sir." Besh said.

"LP-787 and LP-768, form up on me, we're taking out this corvette."

"Copy that, sir, on our way." He heard a male voice and female voice say in unison.

Immediately, his sensors picked up two friendlies forming up behind him and up ahead was a CR90 corvette, firing off volleys of laser fire, taking down several Tie Fighters in the process. They needed to take out the deflector shielding if they wanted to do any substantial damage to the corvette, first, they were going to make several strafing runs, to wear down the shielding. He primed his six laser cannons.

"Prime your weapons systems, we're going in for a strafing run."

All three Ties fired simultaneously on the CR90 corvette, but as expected, the deflector shields were still operational and the blaster bolts dissipated once they hit the shielding. The corvette, now aware of their presence, began firing their laser cannons at them. They swung back up and prepared for another dive bomb. All three of them barely managed to evade the corvette's laser cannons.

"All right, we're going back in, this time they'll be expecting, try your best to dodge their blasts."

"Copy that, sir." He heard LP-768 reply.

Once again, they were diving straight down towards the corvette, their cannons taking aim, they fired once more, but to no avail as their blasts were dissipated by the shielding.

"I'm hit, I'm hit!"

LP-787 was panicking, one of the corvette's lasers had hit his Tie Fighter. Another volley from the rebel was released. Krev managed to dodge all the blasts, but LP-787 wasn't so lucky.

"I'm losing control, I repeat, I'm losing… Arrghhh"

He heard the frantic screams of LP-787 as his ship was pulverized and then static, he was gone. Krev and the other Tie pilot pivoted around for another strafing, after this, the shields should be weak enough to penetrate. A hail of laser fire was still concentrated on them, but Krev was skilled enough to dodge every shot. The other Tie pilot also managed to evade damage.

He began unleashing his firepower against the midsection of the corvette, hoping to take out its cannons. He began accelerating his speed and at the same time, his rate of fire was climbing tremendously, until his cannons were overheating, several of their turrets were disabled in this strafing. He pulled up and prepared for the last run. This time he would use his proton torpedoes, these weapons will cripple the enemy ship.

All of a sudden, the CR90 unleashed another barrage of laser fire, once again he managed to escape every shot. Unfortunately, his comrade wasn't so lucky. The barrage of fire hit her Tie directly in the central cockpit pod, killing the Tie pilot immediately. Her comms went straight to static and a white explosion signaled the Ties demise.

He finally fired his proton torpedoes and they made a direct hit on the aft of the ship, causing a massive explosion to occur. He could see dozens of crew members get sucked into the devoid vacuum, he could barely make out their tiny figures. A truly terrible way to die. The rest of the ship had a chain reaction of eruptions and eventually the whole thing was just scrap metal floating in space. His work here, was done, although it came at the heavy price of two of his Tie pilots.

"Lieutenant Besh, have you dealt with the other corvettes?"

"Yes, sir, we just finished clearing them out, we're chasing down some X-Wings right now. We might need some backup on this one though, Krev."

"Copy that, Besh, I'll be there momentarily."

**The **_**Striker,**_** the command bridge**

"Aim our turbolasers on the MC80A star cruiser and have our Tie Bombers concentrate on that ship as well." Right now, the battle was even, both sides were taking heavy causalities. Seljuc's star destroyer was taking the brunt of the attack and by now most of his Gozanti cruisers had been destroyed or disabled. His two light cruisers were also struggling against the swarms of X-Wings that were circling around like mynocks waiting for a dead womp rat.

"Right away, sir." Captain Orik responded.

"Sir, Wraith Squadron is breaking through the enemy fighter formations, they've managed to destroy three corvettes and almost an entire squadron of X-Wings." A lowly ensign from the pits called out.

"Good, Captain, command Wraith Squadron to reinforce Moff Seljuc's forces. His Tie squadrons are facing some complications with the New Republic's superior X-Wings."

"Yes, of course, sir." Captain Orik began communicating into the Wraith Squadron's comm channel.

"Sir, sir!" A lieutenant from the pits called out, frantically.

"What is it, Lieutenant?"

"The rebels, they're attacking the climate disruption arrays, they've incapacitated two of them so far, sir. Should we reroute our Tie squadrons to reinforce that position, sir?"

"No, no. Those devices are not our main priority right now. They will act as a distraction for the other X-Wings, while our squadrons protect our vital assets." Another frantic voice called out.

"Sir, Y-Wings are attacking the moff's destroyer with ion cannons, they're trying to disable the shields!"

"Captain, tell Lieutenant Commander Krev to put his squadron on double time, as for Moff Seljuc, get me in contact with him."

After a few minutes, Captain Orik was able to get a hold of the embattled moff. His star destroyer was taking a thrashing from the New Republic ships and it was absolutely urgent that they reinforce him, but he also needed to pull back his forces so Dax's destroyers can provide cover for Moff Seljuc's ship.

"Moff Seljuc, pull your destroyer out of there, we'll cover you're retreat, Wraith Squadron is already reinforcing your fighters."

"With all due respect, Admiral Dax, my crew is handling the situation appropriately, I will not allow these rebel scum the satisfaction of seeing me withdrawal from this battlefield. We are beginning to push back their fighters anyways, with the help of your Tie squadrons." The moff was smug as usual, he was an overconfident man, one who yearned for all the glory for himself. Dax didn't want to move his star destroyers in too close, his ships were best used at a distance, and even though they were more powerful than the Mon Calamari capital ships, they had superior shielding. Add that to a combination of superior starfighters and support ships, the New Republic fleet was not to be underestimated, he learned that lesson the hard way on Agamar.

"Moff Seljuc, I plead with you, if we regroup to a more tactical position, maybe we can entice their forces to come to us, then we can use the superior fire power of our capital ships from a longer range, instead of doing broadside shots."

Admiral Dax, I have the situation fully under my control. The MC80A's shields are about to give out and then we can obliterate this New Republic fleet. Now, admiral, I have more important issues to attend to than quarrelling with you." The transmission abruptly cut off.

Damn that bastard.

**Krev**

He came down from above, taking the X-Wing by shock, he fired his green laser bolts. A direct hit on the X-Wing's nose rendered the fighter's primary sensors useless. Now the rebel pilot would be virtually blind. He swooped down beneath the fighter and pounced up, this time aiming his concussion missiles at the underbelly of the X-Wing. He pressed the trigger and the missiles were away. The reb had no idea what hit him, his ship burst into a fiery ball, his S-Foils pealing off and his atromech droid melted to a pulp. His body would be nothing but charred flesh.

That was his seventh X-Wing kill of the battle. His adrenaline was rushing, just like every other battle. He got an exhilarating feeling every time he killed a rebel, ridding the galaxy of such filth was something he looked forward to. Especially because many of his friends were killed on the Death Star II when the terrorists launched their attack. They killed millions of loyal imperials and brought disorder to the galaxy. The Empire provided order and justice to the galaxy. These usurpers were trying to destabilize the Emperor's vision of a peaceful galaxy.

The voice of Captain Orik interrupted his thoughts, "Lieutenant Commander Krev, reinforce Moff Seljuc's star destroyer at once."

"Copy that, captain. Wraith Squadron, form up on me, we're going in."

Once again, Captain Orik's voice boomed over the comm channels, "Make it double time, Y-Wings are laying waste to the moff's destroyer. Take out those Y-Wings immediately before their ion cannons disable the deflector shields."

"Yes, sir. Wraith Squadron, accelerate your twin ion engines, we're taking out those Y-Wings."

Up ahead, he could see the moff's ship and a squadron of Y-Wings quickly approaching it. The other Tie fighters were getting shot down left and right, another squadron of blue marked X-Wings were making short work of the moff's Ties.

Wraith Squadron hurtled into the flank of the X-Wing and Y-Wing squadrons. Krev immediately shot down several X-Wings and they went crashing into the hull of the star destroyer. He could hear all sorts of comm chatter confirming kills and calculating targeting systems. With the escort of X-Wings occupied, he was going to blast those Y-Wings.

He targeted the first Y-Wing as it quickly descended towards the starboard section of the Star destroyer. He fired a flurry of laser fire, every mark hitting its intended target. One of the bomber's Koenayr R200 ion jet engines came loose and hurled towards him. He hastily dove beneath the incoming object. The rest of the Y-Wing crashed into a turbolaser emplacement on the star destroyer.

All of a sudden, he felt his defender jerk. Something had hit him from behind. His sensors were picking up an X-Wing that was inbound, another jolt rocked his ship. The enemy pilot was firing a barrage of lasers and concussion missiles. He maneuvered out of harms way and shot out his flares, the missiles locked onto the flares, sparing him from utter destruction, as several bursting bright lights soon lit up all over.

"I got one pursuing me, I'm trying to shake him off." His Tie could probably take a few more hits, his shields were at a relatively stable seventy percent.

"Krev, I've got you covered, I'm coming." He heard Besh's voice communicating over the comm.

"No, I'm fine Besh, the mission is more important than me, take out those Y-Wings before do any more damage." There was no response on the end. He knew Besh wasn't going to follow his orders, especially if his life was at risk. Another shot rocked his ship, shields were down to fifty five percent.

Then, out of nowhere, he spotted Besh's Tie Interceptor dive bombing towards the pursuing enemy fighter. Green bolts emanated from the interceptor and cut the X-Wing down, sending it plunging into a corvette down below.

"Besh! I gave you a direct order to stop the Y-Wings! Why didn't you follow through?" He said, infuriated.

"I've already lost too many friends to the rebellion, I wasn't about to lose you, Krev." He felt a debt of gratitude to Besh, he really did, but in his mind, the mission was of utmost importance, even more than his own life.

"Thank you, Besh but-"

The surviving Y-Wings released their ion cannons on Seljuc's star destroyer and a wave of electricity spread out across the exterior of the capital ship. The shields were now down. The star destroyer would now be easy pickings for the Mon Cala ships.

"Alright, Wraith Squadron, regroup on me, we're going to- "

As he turned his defender to face the Mon Calamari cruisers, a massive object appeared out of nowhere. A complement of X-Wings and A-Wings also exited hyperspace, joining the new, enigmatic ship. The front of the ship was shaped like a hatchet, giving it a foreboding appearance. The new vessel was armed to teeth, he could see turbolasers, laser cannons, ion torpedoes and concussion missile slots. He was in pure awe; he had never witnessed such a ship before. That awe soon escalated into shock as it unleashed a massive barrage of turbolasers and laser fire, with concussion missiles acting as support.

He narrowly evaded getting shot down, but the remnants of Wraith Squadron were not so lucky. He could here screaming over the channels as Tie after Tie was getting shot down.

**The**_** Striker**_**, the bridge**

"What the hell is that!?" Dax was in complete shock. Another New Republic ship had just entered the system, with a complement of starfighters. The new ship was pounding Seljuc's star destroyer with turbolasers and concussion missiles.

"Get Moff Seljuc on the line, now!"

The once arrogant moff soon appeared before him, but now he was panicking, the fool had fallen right into the New Republic trap. They probably had that new vessel laying in wait, while they lured Seljuc forward, they let their Y-Wings take care of the shields and now they were obliterating the moff's ship.

"Moff Seljuc, get your imperial star destroyer out of there now before it becomes minced meat!"

"Admiral Dax, we're trying to pull out, but we can't move, in fact, it seems like this new vessel is pulling us in with its tractor beam!" That was not possible, a tractor beam couldn't be that powerful. Although, rumors had been spreading that the New Republic had developed a new class of ship with an extremely powerful tractor beam, primarily made of magnite crystals.

"My ship is suffering critical damage, the enemy fire has caused decompression in the aft starboard, it won't be much longer before we're blown to smithereens, admiral!"

"Captain Orik, command what's left of Wraith Squadron to take out that tractor beam, order any other remaining squadrons to cover them."

"Ughh, damn it, our sublight engines are failing, they're targeting the bridge right now, admiral, I need your- arrrghhhh." The moff's hologram suddenly disappeared and Dax looked out the viewport in horror, the moff's star destroyer broke in half as its engines faced a massive explosion, the command bridge was engulfed. Debris was sent all across the vacuum of space, hitting the smaller light cruisers nearby, destroying them in the process. There was no doubt that many Tie Fighters were also caught in the cataclysm.

"Captain, get our-" He was shaken to the side as the _Striker _was jolted by an otherworldly force. Oh no, the New Republic had just grappled them with their top of the line tractor beam. He could feel the ship being pulled forward; officers began to panic as they attempted to reverse engines to no avail.

"Sir, sir, we're being pulled in by their tractor beam, we can't detach from it!" A panicked ensign said.

**Krev**

"Orders confirmed, sir. Wraith Squadron, we're going in for that tractor beam, the other squadrons will cover us while we take it out."

As his squadron formed up, a piece of debris hit one of the wings of his ship, a red light began to emit, warning of impending impact. He gazed to his left, the moff's star destroyer was now gone, thousands of pieces of debris floating away from the epicenter. Then, the shockwave hit him. He was sent spiraling out of control. The force of the explosion was powerful enough to take out many of the unshielded Tie fighters that were too close.

He attempted to regain control of his ship, he was spiraling down towards the New Republic capital ship. Before he collided with the hull, his controls came back online and he pulled up, avoiding certain death. Several other Ties weren't so lucky, as they hurtled straight into the surface of the cruiser.

"Besh, LP-764, LP-765 and LP-779, we're going straight for the tractor beam. Prepare tour proton torpedoes, we're going to blow straight through it."

"We've got your back Krev, but I see some incoming A-Wings." Half a dozen or so A-Wings were fast approaching. These rebel interceptors were known for their maneuverability, they were best used by the rebellion for surgical strikes against the Empire. These light interceptors were, in Krev's opinion, the most exasperating to deal with.

The A-Wings, before colliding with the five Ties, split up in three different directions. They were trying to bait them away from the tractor beam, but Krev was not going to fall for that dirty trick. On the downside, if he did not take out the A-Wings, they might come back later.

"Besh, you and the others deal with the A-Wings, I'll go straight for the tractor beam."

"Krev, with all due respect, I don't think you'll be able to disable it without additional support, I highly advise against this, at least until we clear up these bogwings."

"Besh, if we don't disable it now, the _Striker _will be in the midst of this new, deadly warship and I can't let thousands of more imperials die because of this. We've already lost enough in this battle." The comm was silent for a moment.

"Ok, good luck, my friend, we'll help you once we clear these pests out."

And with that, he went on the offensive. He was advancing upon the New Republic cruisier; the tractor beam was located at the anterior side of the hull. His targeting systems picked up the signature of the beam. However, rays of fire came from the vessel, they were attempting to shoot him down, they knew how deadly his Tie Defender could be. He eluded every single shot, all of them flying right past him. A second volley soon rang out, this time, a bolt hit one of his wings, his sensors were flashing red.

His proton torpedoes were primed and they were off. The two proton torpedoes hit exactly on target, although the deflector shields held up. He would have to make another bombing attack.

He veered off his direct course to the tractor beam and circled back. He primed his proton torpedoes once more. He moved side to side, up and down, avoiding every single laser. When the second volley of fire was unleashed, he was able to evade all shots once more and he fired. His torpedoes got a direct hit, hopefully the shields were weak enough by now.

Now, he was on his third run. His sensors suddenly went red, he had an A-Wing on his trail, and it was wildly firing every shot it had. Several shots succeeded in hitting his twin ion engines, this would decelerate his speed.

The A-Wing suddenly burst into flames and a familiar Tie Interceptor came up behind his fighter.

"Told you I got your back, Krev. Now, lets take out this tractor beam." He grinned at that. They both primed their proton torpedoes and let loose. The tractor beam was hit by all four torpedoes and an electrical current caused a massive ignition to occur. They'd done it.

"Well done, Lieutenant Commander Krev and Lieutenant Besh, report back to the _Striker_ at once, we are withdrawing from the Eriadu system." Captain Orik commanded them.

"All right, Wraith Squadron, head back to the _Striker_, we'releaving this hell hole."

The entire squadron, or at least, what was left of the squadron made their way back to the star destroyer. Many Ties had carbon scorching damage on their wings, the intense fighting had taken its toll. A lot of good pilots died for the Empire today.

"Lieutenant Commander, Krev, we've got X-Wings and A-Wings following us. They're closing in on us, fast." He heard the flustered voice of LP-764 echo through the comm.

"Try to shake them off, we're almost to the hangar, don't engage unless you absolutely have to, do you- Arrrgh, damn it, I just got hit!" A couple of A-Wings were close behind him.

"I'm also hit, I can't shake them off, they're determined to get me."

"Besh, I'll cover you. Just get to the _Striker, _don't come back for me, I'll- damn it. I'm hit again! My shields are down, the defender is decompressing." His life support system, attached to his chest, activated.

Another blast shook his ship, he was now in critical danger. One more shot and he was done for. So, this was how he was going to die, he expected as much, life expectancy for Tie pilots wasn't exactly the highest in the Empire. At least he was dying for the glory of the Empire. He'd done his part and he accepted that. He closed eyes, ready to join his fellow brethren amongst the stars. But the final killing blow never came.

The two enemy fighters were shot down.

"I've got you, Krev. Get out of here. I'll buy you enough time to escape!"

"No! Besh, you can't do this to me! Let me die, live on for the Empire, my time has come!"

"Sorry, old friend, goodbye" The comm channel went cold.

Then, everything went black as his Tie Defender crashed into the hangar of the _Striker._

**The **_**Striker**_**, the command Bridge.**

"Have all Tie Fighters reported to their respective star destroyers?"

"All of my fighters have reported in, sir." The captain of the imperial star destroyer _Erebus_ replied.

"Captain Orik, what of our fighters?"

"Wraith Squadron, Black Squadron and Striker Squadron have all reported in, but they have sustained heavy losses. Black Squadron lost its commander and Lieutenant Commander Krev of Wraith Squadron is in critical condition, he crashed his Tie Defender in the main hangar."

"All right, now, get us the hell out of here. We'll recuperate when we get back to the Merrin System. Contact governor Rowan, inform him of what has occurred."

"Yes, sir. Officers, activate the hyperdrive, set coordinates for the Merrin System." With that, the white streaks of hyperspace appeared as they escaped.

**Author's Note**

**Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, this was my first time writing a space battle, so I hope it turned out okay. By the way, the New Republic ship with the extremely powerful tractor beam is a Starhawk-class battleship. Please review so I know what to improve upon. **


	5. Culprit

**Tarsus**

"You've identified the perpetrators, agent?"

"Almost, the troopers were able to recover a serial code from a piece of shrapnel. That code identified the work station in which it was manufactured. Now, workers are only allowed in their designated areas, so it is very likely that some of your personnel in that station managed to transport a bomb to the shield generator and set it to detonate. Although, I haven't identified the specific individuals who carried out this sabotage, it could be everyone in that station or it could have been a select few."

Bastila Talon had come up to Overseer Elsin's office, to inform him of the situation. However, she also had a sneaking suspicion that he was somehow involved in the conspiracy. The surveillance system had been sabotaged, although Elsin claimed it was a simple malfunction, but these three events, the downed system, then the sabotage of the shielding and finally, the Y-Wing attack on the facility all happened in consecutive order. This was a coordinated attack, there were no coincidences here. His body language also emitted a nervous stance, his eyes moving side to side, a few droplets of sweat collecting on his forehead and he was asking a lot about the suspects. And the fact that Overseer Elsin is the only non-human officer in the entire facility, which meant he would have access to the surveillance room.

"Well, umm, have you interrogated them yet, Agent Talon? I would very much like to know how they successfully managed to destroy the generator. Knowing that I might have traitors inside this compound puts me on alert, I..um, well, Tarsans who support the Empire are often prime targets for the terrorists." The overseer was pacing around the office, a nervous tick, she supposed.

"You seem troubled, Elsin, if you are worried about security, I've brought additional troops and equipment. I can provide you with a security detail of stormtroopers, they will certainly be more reliable than your personnel guards." She said coolly, she was hoping he would slip up.

"No, no, what I would like to do is get out of here, take me back to the capital, safety is assured there, at least at the royal palace." He made an uneasy glance; he was either spooked by the recent rebel activity or his cover was about to be blown.

"That will not be necessary, Commander Karzon is reliable, he will make sure you are safe from any intrusions."

"Yes, of course, agent. Have you received any news on the admiral?"

"The last I heard of him was yesterday, he said he had just entered the Eriadu system. However, by the time he gets back, all perpetrators of this heinous crime will have been apprehended and promptly executed for treason."

"Right, right, of course, agent." His voice grew hoarse.

"Don't think me to be rude Overseer Elsin, but I have urgent business that needs to be dealt with. The interrogations are beginning today and hopefully, this case will blow wide open." With that, she spun around, heading straight for the turbolift.

"Good luck with your investigation agent!" He called out, although, the tone of his voice indicated that he really did not wish her luck, she was good at reading people's emotions and body language, and from what she has gathered, Elsin was looking more like the ringleader of this operation.

As the turbolift transported her to the second floor, she was met by Commander karzon as the doors slid open. He was in his officer's uniform; she had never seen his face before now. He had stubble on his cheeks and chin. His ocean blue eyes bagged from the lack of sleep and his brown hair drenched in sweat, he must've just gotten into his officer's uniform. Behind him were a squad of four stormtroopers.

"you requested my presence agent?" He asked.

"Yes, I want you and this squad to serve as overseer Elsin's guard from now on, I suspect that he may be involved in this somehow, however, guard him under the pretense that the terrorists might want him dead. He seems astutely panicked already. That is all."

She continued past him and kept walking down the administrative building's corridors. Eventually, she made it to her office, which she had now converted into a makeshift interrogation room. Lining the wall along the adjacent corridor, were twelve Tarsan workers, the suspects she had gathered from the station. A complement of stormtroopers also stood guard over the suspects, all of them brandished E-11 blasters.

She looked at one of the stormtroopers standing by the entrance of her office and interrogation room, "Trooper, send in the first worker, the one at the front, with the green skin." She pointed towards a surprised Tarsan as two stormtroopers forced him up.

"Once I am finished with each one, send in another immediately after, is that understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." The trooper replied.

She entered her access code and the doors opened; the troopers escorted the young Tarsan behind her. They sat down on opposite sides of the table. The two troopers removed the stun cuffs from the detainee and then stood guard by the blast door.

"Let's begin, shall we?"

"Why am I being detained, Imperial?" The Tarsan scowled at her, he was obviously not pleased to be here.

"I'll be the one asking questions, Lart Botha. Now, I've looked up your profile, it says here that you've been working here for a month, and prior to that, you were employed at a local farm located ten kilometers southeast of this facility. You were stationed in complex three, on the imperial bomb assembly floor at station A7, is that correct?"

"Yes" He replied simply.

"You and eleven others were responsible for assembling proton bombs, is that correct, Lart?"

"This is true."

"Several days ago, as you know, there was an attack launched on this very facility. Beforehand, the shield generator was destroyed using a proton bomb. From the shrapnel that I was able to collect from the blast site, I was able to scan for a serial code and that code matched with your station."

"What? You think we detonated that bomb, there's no way. We were all heading back to the worker's barracks after a long day of work."

"It's funny you say that because at about the same timeframe of the explosion, the surveillance system went dark, due to an apparent 'malfunction', quite convenient, wouldn't you agree?"

"Well, what else can I say, we were heading to the worker's barracks."

"So, you expect me to trust your word, when it is more than likely that most of you were involved in the bombing?"

Lart stayed silent for a moment, unsure of what to say.

"Well, the truth will be revealed, fortunately, my associates have loaned me a special device, a device that is exceedingly rare these days, but is extremely efficient." Lart looked puzzled, the locals were not familiar with such technology, backwater planets weren't known for their innovation.

"Sergeant, bring in the brain analyzer." She called out through the commlink. Within a few seconds, two stormtroopers entered the interrogation room, one was in possession of headset that had multiple electrodes hanging about. The second trooper was carrying a black box, which was connected to the main headset. The Tarsan mumbled something incoherent, his eyes grew wide. Talon knew that the Tarsan was screwed, if he was lying, she would soon know. The two stormtroopers grabbed Lart's head, holding him firm.

"Hey, hey, hold on, I don't want that odd-looking contraption on my head!"

"If you tell me the absolute truth right now, your punishment for treason will be less severe." Lart attempted to get up, but was shoved back down into his seat by the two stormtroopers. They connected the electrodes to his forehead.

"Resistance will not solve your problem, Lart." She hooked up her datapad to the brain analyzer, readings came up. Now, it was time for the questioning to begin.

"Were you involved in the sabotage of the shield generator?" The young Tarsan pursed his lips, he wasn't going to answer. He was definitely hiding information. If he wanted to play like that, then she had no choice but to play rough. She unholstered her SE-14 blaster pistol and pistol whipped him with the back end of her blaster, his head jerked, green blood now dripped down from his forehead.

"Refusing to answer will only bring more pain, Lart, if that even is your real name." Now the two stormtroopers were beating him with their blasters, she raised her hand up, the two troopers ceased with their beating.

"I'll never answer to you, imperial scum, kriff you!" The green alien was now openly defying her and yelling obscenities at her, this was unacceptable. She slammed her fist into his cheek causing him to fall backwards and out of his hover chair. He staggered back up, but shoved to the ground by the two stormtroopers.

"This would have been much easier if you had simply answered my question candidly, but now, unfortunately for you, your punishment will be much more severe now." She abruptly kicked him in the gut as he was laying in the fetal position. A pathetic grunt escaped from the defenseless Tarsan as she struck him again with the toe of her boot. The two stormtroopers pulled up his piteous form, they held him up, grabbing his underarms. She balled up her fist and swung at him, the blow knocked the wind out of him, a tooth was sent flying through the air.

"Over a hundred imperials were killed in that raid, all brutally killed because of you. Dozens of your fellow coworkers were obliterated, did you have no consideration for them, huh?" She said as she landed another punch just below his right eye socket. Lart remained silent, even after the intense beatings, his resolve was strong, she admired that, but it was the only noticeable thing she could respect this filth for. Once more, she delivered another blow to his jawline, it sent him back into the arms of one of the stormtroopers, who promptly beat him with the butt of his blaster.

"I've had enough of this one, bring in the next one, sergeant." This was all apart of her plan; to frighten the other detainees into confessing, once they saw their bloodied friend, some of them may want to reconsider their silence and once they started talking, the brain analyzer would pick up whether they were being candid or not. Then, she could determine who the true perpetrators were and hopefully, they may reveal other suspects, such as Overseer Elsin. She still had a keen eye on him, but nonetheless, she will get to the bottom of this.

**Several Hours Later**

His face slammed into the desk, green blood was oozing from every orifice on his face, bruises dotted his hole body. As the day had gone along, she had increased her brutality, making sure that each new suspect that didn't answer her received an even worse beating than the last. She grabbed the collar of his shirt and slammed him against the steely wall, his head collided with the surface and a spray of blood emitted from his cranium. The Tarsan slumped to the floor and went limp. Shit, he was dead. The impact must have caused major head trauma.

"Karabast." She exclaimed, forgetting her subordinates were still here. It was technically against protocol to shout out expletives, but at this point, she did not care. Her mind was clouded with frustration.

Not a single one of the suspects had given her what she was looking for, they were resilient for sure. She felt that the last suspect was about ready to break his silence, but his untimely demise cut their interview short. She hadn't meant to kill him, but she lost control of her anger. Now, there was only one left to interrogate. The two stormtroopers picked up the fresh corpse and opened the blast doors, revealing the last Tarsan worker sitting on a bench, right outside. He had likely heard all of the commotion. As they dragged the body out, the Tarsan, who appeared to be the youngest of the group, was shocked to see his dead friend.

"You, in here now." She said sternly, she was frustrated and exhausted, hopefully, this one's confidence would be broken. She could already tell that he was intensely frightened.

"Move it." One of the troopers said, as they forced him up.

She led the way back into her interrogation room, the two stormtroopers and the detainee followed closely behind her. She pulled the hover chair out and grabbed young man by his collar, pushing him into the chair. Unlike the other detained workers, this one was much younger, possibly in his teenage years. He also seemed much more frightened, nervous and squirmy. If this Tarsan is a rebel, he had not been one for long, he most likely was recruited recently, the other ones were hard to break. Hopefully the inexperience of this one will cause him to spill his secrets.

"Do you want to end up like your friend out there?" She asked as she looked up his name in the database.

"I swear to you, I don't know what's going on! I'm only a simple factory worker! I don't want any part in this war!" The teen said as streams of sweat dripped down from his bulbous head.

"Well, we'll learn whether you're being candid or not, Tommin Ovarun." She said as she finally located his name. "Attach the device, sergeant."

The two stormtroopers moved quickly to attach the electrodes to his forehead, he panicked as the held his head in place. Once all the electrodes had been connected, the sergeant activated the analyzer. Now it was time to break this kid.

"My first question will be quite simplistic; your response should be a yes or no answer. Is that understood, Tommin? If you are telling the truth, the analyzer will turn to a lime green, if you deceive me, it will turn crimson. If you are honest with me, the penalties will be less severe." The teen remained silent; his lips zipped. She continued on, ignoring his lack of a response.

"Were you and the other workers in your station responsible for the destruction of the shield generator, which in turn left this facility vulnerable to attack, thus causing many imperials, as well as your fellow Tarsan colleagues to lose their lives?" He remained quiet and the brain analyzer remained neutral of any color. He was choosing the difficult route, not a smart move on his part.

"By not answering you are implicating yourself in this conspiracy and if this is the case, I will assume all of you guilty. Immediate execution would soon follow of course." More sweat poured down his cheeks and his irises were darting to the corners of his eyes. This one was proving to be less resilient when it came to her interrogation when compared to the other detained workers.

"I will ask one more question, this will be your final chance to redeem yourself." She took a pause, the Tarsan made no attempt to acknowledge her offer.

"Before the shield generators were abruptly detonated, the surveillance system 'malfunctioned.' Very convenient for what happened next and because our holorecorders were offline, we were unable to identify any suspicious activity. Now, it is a well-known fact, that in the administrative compound, where the surveillance room is located, that only high-ranking officers are allowed. So, either an imperial sabotaged the system or a specific Overseer of this facility, the only Tarsan here who holds a substantial rank, sabotaged because he is in league with the terrorists. That leads me to my final conclusion, Overseer Elsin, willingly or unwillingly, went into the security room and without arousing suspicion managed to cut the essential wiring that allowed the surveillance of the facility. Were you and your compatriots in league with the Overseer? Choose what you say carefully, your life and lives of your friends depend on it." His eyes were darting corner to corner, his jaw clenched and his breathing grew arduous. He was squirming in his seat. He tried to keep his mouth shut, but she could tell his lips were trembling. This could be her big breakthrough.

"Remember, the lives of your friends lie in your hands, choose your words with thought." He remained silent, but she could tell he was on the verge spewing everything. She looked up towards the stormtrooper sergeant and nodded. He raised the butt of his blaster, ready to slam it into the back of Tommin's head.

"Wait!" The Tarsan blurted out just before the blaster slammed into his head. "I…. I… ummm… are you ummm… will you keep you're word on a less severe punishment and… umm… spare the lives of my friends?" Tommin stammered.

"You have my word."

"Okay, yes, we were… the ones who placed and detonated the proton bombs at the shield generator. And yes, Elsin was involved with the surveillance system failure. But I swear, none of this was my plan, Lart, he…. He was the one who infiltrated the factory, he convinced us to join the cause of the Tarsan Liberation Army. I… I thought it was a good idea at first, but…. When it was executed… I didn't know so many innocent workers would be caught in the crossfire." The brain analyzer turned green; he was telling the truth.

"Why would Elsin help you, he profits from this factory and from the Empire. Why would he risk his position of power to help the Tarsan Liberation Army, they have a deep hatred for men like Elsin, so why would he join forces with you?"

"It wasn't his choice, we… uhh… made him. Several weeks ago, we hired some bounty hunters to kidnap his daughter, use her as a bargaining chip. We told him if he reported the kidnapping to imperial authorities, then his daughter was as good as dead and if he didn't do as we commanded, then we would kill her." Once more, the black box turned green. So Elsin was simply an unwilling participant in this whole ordeal, it made him less incriminating and more sympathetic in her eyes, but nonetheless, the overseer still committed a crime against the Empire.

"Lart, the one who infiltrated us, was the ringleader, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"Thank you for your cooperation thus far, Tommin. I will hold my word, but I can't promise that for your ringleader. I will question you more, but first I must attend to an important matter." She activated her commlink. She had successfully connected the dots, but Elsin, although forced against the imperials via blackmail, could be dangerous. He seemed to care a great deal about his daughter's safety and he had shown his dedication to that already.

"Commander Karzon, apprehend Elsin, he is the key to all of this."

**Elsin's Office**

For the past several hours, Karzon and his squad of troopers had stood guard in Overseer Elsin's office. The majority of the stay was silent. Two troopers stood by the turbolift and the other two stood in front of Elsin's desk, while Karzon was located in the middle of the room. Agent Talon had informed him that Elsin was a possible suspect in this case and told him to guard the overseer under the pretense of protection from possible terrorists, but he could tell that Elsin was not buying that story.

He had spent the past several years of his career on this dreadful planet, suppressing the insurgents. When he first arrived, he was only an ordinary sergeant. He led an eight-man squad of stormtroopers in the capital city, snuffing out criminals and rebels alike. He was sent on many missions by his superiors in the ghetto districts of the city. During this time period, the Tarsan government, propped up by the Empire, was mainly self-reliant. They required minimal stormtrooper support, so the royal Tarsan guards made up the bulk of the security force on the planet. Tarsus was part of the Empire, but retained a lot of autonomy due to the loyal aristocrats of the planet who controlled the industrial infrastructure. He had quickly climbed the ranks of the stormtrooper corps because of his successful suppression of rebel activity in the ghetto districts of the capital.

However, everything changed after Endor. Imperial command dictated that the news of the Emperor's death be kept classified, to prevent panic. That quickly fell apart once the rebellion started broadcasting the news to the whole galaxy. Not only did it demoralize his men, but it caused greater unrest in nearly every sector of the galaxy, including Tarsus. Ever since then, the insurgents, also known as the Tarsan Liberation Army, stepped up their antics. This damn planet was a hellhole.

"Commander uhhh… Karzon, is it?" Overseer Elsin had wandered his way towards Karzon.

"Yes, Overseer?"

"I have some urgent business I need to attend to on the lower levels of the administrative building, Commander. It is of the most utmost importance that I am down there." He pleaded.

"No, sir. We have strict orders to keep you up here. I can go in your place, if you wish, Overseer."

"No! It doesn't look like you're protecting me, it looks like you're keeping me up here as a prisoner, commander! Now, let me through!" The overseer's face grew red with anger.

"I said no." He said in a stern voice. Elsin, obviously frustrated, returned to his desk.

_Beep, beep, beep_

His commlink was going off. Maybe it was the agent? Maybe she finally got one of those scumbags to talk.

"Commander Karzon, apprehend Elsin, he is the key to all of this."

"Yes, ma'am, it will be done at once."

So, he really was apart of this whole plot. He had his suspicions before, but he couldn't believe it. He had spent several months with Elsin. It was especially surprising that he was in league with the rebels. Elsin profited immensely under imperial rule, why would he give that up? Maybe the propaganda from the New Republic brainwashed him, who knew.

"ARRRGHH!" A sudden scream burst out as he closed him commlink. He turned around to see one of his stormtroopers on the ground and soon another one collapsed as a stun blast whizzed by. On top of the desk stood Elsin, with a DH-17 blaster in hand. He fired another shot as Karzon ducked for cover. He rolled over to a nearby plant pot and unholstered his blaster pistol.

The two guards by the turbolift were taken by shock and even before they could lift their E-11 blaster rifles, they were stunned in quick succession. The two armored bodies collapsed onto the floor. It was only him and the overseer now.

"Just let me out of here! They're going to kill her! I can't let that happen!" The Tarsan said as he shot several more stun bolts, which either hit the pot or the wall behind him.

"Stand down!" He yelled as he traded fire.

"Agent Talon, Elsin is trying to escape! He's stunned my troopers."

His commlink crackled to life, "Copy that, stay there. I'm coming up with a squad of troopers."

"Copy that."

A barrage of bolts hit the pot, shaking it a bit. Elsin was taking cover behind his desk. Karzon popped up from his position and fired, one shot almost hit the alien as he attempted to fire back.

"I don't want to hurt you commander! Just let me leave!"

"No can do, even if I did let you go, you wouldn't get past the dozens of troopers closing in." He remained silent, probably thinking through his options. Karzon was going to give him one last chance before he switched his blaster from stun to kill. Suddenly, he heard footsteps fast approaching. He looked back and was caught off guard to see him mere feet away, charging him, with his blaster ready to fire.

He dodged the attack, barely missing an incoming punch. Elsin fumbled past him, losing his balance and falling flat on his face. He tried to recover, but it was too later. Karzon aimed his blaster at him and stunned him. His body went limp as the blue ray of energy dissipated all over his body.

The doors to the turbolift slid open and a contingent of stormtroopers poured out, surrounding the stunned Tarsan. Behind them, Agent Talon emerged from the sea of white armor. She had a look of satisfaction and a grin adorned her face.


	6. Recovery

_**Striker, **_**Medical Bay**

His eyes shot wide open; pain coursed through his entire body. A bright light pierced through his eyes. Was he dead? No, he couldn't be, if he was, he wouldn't feel such intense pain. Was he dying? He began hyperventilating as he began to recount his last memories. A fiery inferno had engulfed him somehow, his Tie Defender losing control. He remembered the commotion of the comm channels. His squad mates getting picked off by enemy starfighters. Green and red laser bolts traversing the vast vacuum. Enemy capital ships were firing upon their star destroyers. He was in a battle, a battle that ended in defeat.

He attempted to sit upright, but quickly gave up as it was futile. He observed the room he was in. The walls in front of him were stark white. To his right, another form was lying in a bed. He couldn't tell if it was a male or female, but their breathing seemed normal, as their chest rose slowly. To his left, there was an empty bed. Was he in a star destroyer? Or an enemy ship? He couldn't tell.

The mechanical footsteps of a droid soon caught his attention. Several beds down, a 2-1B surgical droid, with a datapad in hand, was making its rounds. It progressively made it way towards him, occasionally stopping to input new data on several patients. Finally, the medical droid reached his bed.

"Droid! Where the hell am I!?"

The droid looked at him quizzically, "You are in the medical bay of the _Striker_, of course."

"Of course." He said sarcastically.

"You must remain still. Your central processing unit is still recovering."

"You mean, my Brain?" Droids always had an odd way of saying things.

"That is correct. Now, remain still as I analyze your vital signs."

After a few minutes of scanning and the droid inspecting his body, it seemingly input all of the data it had collected into its pad.

"Alright, now that you've done your medical examination, can I please get back to my squadron?"

"Your body is still recovering, commander. You have been mandated three weeks of medical leave."

"Hey! You can't do that! The Empire needs every pilot it can get. I need to be flying soon."

"It is not up to me."

"Then who?"

"That decision was left to Admiral Dax. If you would like, I can contact him."

"Yes, I would like to see him."

And with that, the medical droid wandered off, attending to other patients. He was left to wonder how many pilots survived in Wraith Squadron. It was all such a blur. How many causalities had they sustained? Where were they heading? What were the admiral's plans? The multitude of questions raced through his mind, but then, it hit him. Where was Besh, his best friend, lieutenant and comrade? He knew many of his pilots had been killed, but he couldn't recall what had happened to Besh.

The blast doors suddenly opened, and he could hear a pair of footsteps. Two officers in their standard gray, naval uniforms, appeared in the doorway. He instantly recognized the younger officer as Admiral Dax. The older man was Captain Orik.

"Lieutenant Commander Krev, I see you've finally snapped out of your unconsciousness." The admiral said.

"Yes, but uh, what happened, I can't remember much of what happened, did we lose the battle? How many of my pilots survived? Where are we going? What is-"

"Son, it is best you calm down, all of your questions will be answered shortly." The captain said sternly, seemingly annoyed with the sudden bombardment of questions.

"Let us not be too harsh with him, captain. You performed exceedingly well during the battle. In fact, if it weren't for you, all of us would be dead right now."

"Uh, really, sir?"

"Yes, you and your squadron destroyed several squadrons of enemy starfighters. However, most importantly, you destroyed the tractor beam that was pulling our star destroyer in."

"I may also add that your squadron covered the retreat, but at a cost." Captain Orik said mysteriously.

"What cost sir? How many of my pilots survived? Where is Lieutenant Besh?" His heart was now racing.

"Unfortunately, every single pilot in Wraith Squadron was killed in combat. You were the only survivor."

He sat in shock, not knowing what to say. He did not expect every single pilot, his comrades, his friends, to die. He had forged bonds with all of them. His strongest bond was with Besh, a person who he considered family. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes, but he held it back. He needed to stay strong. He was a soldier; he couldn't show weakness right now.

"Lieutenant Besh sacrificed himself, he held back the A-Wings while the other squadrons retreated. He saved you too. He died in combat a hero, a hero of the Empire. We've awarded every member of your squadron with the Cross of Valor. Of course, you will receive the Cross of valor too." Admiral Dax unveiled a briefcase. He opened it to reveal a gold medal, embroidered with a cross. He attached the cross onto his gown, placing it perfectly over his heart.

"Not only have we decided to award you this prestigious medal, but we've also concluded that a promotion is in order. Lieutenant Commander Krev, your promotion to Commander is effective immediately." Admiral Dax exclaimed.

"Wow, uh, I don't know what to say admiral."

"No thanks are in order. If anyone should thank someone, its me. Your bravery, dedication and loyalty to your Empire have been noted. I look forward to your continued success." With that, both the admiral and captain gave him a salute. He returned the gesture.

"Rest up, Commander." As the two men were about to leave, Krev had one raging question left.

"When will I be able to fly again?" The Admiral turned around, surprised by his inquiry.

"No need to worry about that, Commander. You will be on medica leave for three weeks, once that is done, I will assign you to your new post." And with that, they were gone.

He sunk back into his bed. He finally let out a stream of tears. The rebels were going to pay for their crimes, there was no doubt in his mind.

**The Bridge**

"Sir, you have an incoming transmission from Tarsus." One of the communications officers blurted out as he entered the bridge.

"Send it through, ensign."

The hologram projector came on and three distinct figures appeared. Standing in the front, was Agent Talon, wearing the typical ISB uniform. Several feet behind her stood a stormtrooper commander and next to him, was a Tarsan in stun cuffs.

"Agent, this looks very interesting, to say the least."

"We've apprehended the saboteurs, including Overseer Elsin."

"Well done, Agent. Your abilities never fail to impress. Have the prisoners transported to the capital. I will be arriving in a day or two."

"Wait, I'm not done. This whole situation is more complex than you realize."

"Go on, Agent."

"Overseer Elsin wasn't a willing participant in this atrocious act, he was extorted into doing this by the Tarsan Liberation Army. They kidnapped his daughter and threatened to kill her unless he helped them with this operation."

Dax stroked his chin, "I understand the overseer's plight, but a crime is still a crime."

"Yes, I understand admiral, but I've devised a plan to kill two Mynocks with one stone."

"I'm listening."


End file.
